No images? Click here We are excited to announce that we have been working away behind the scenes to get our online bookings system up and running. The wait is almost over, and we hope to have this finalised for you in the coming months. Please keep an eye out on our socials as we will be announcing when online bookings are live. This is an exciting step for our Reservations Team, and we are pleased to continually improve the booking process for our guests! MASTER REEF GUIDES COHORT 2023 We are pleased to announce that our Activities Team Leader, Georgia and our Reef Protection Officer, Pieter, have been nominated and accepted into the Master Reef Guides program for 2023. This year, the field school will take place right here on Lady Elliot Island! We will welcome the Master Reef Guides team to the island in the coming weeks for an immersive learning experience right here on the #southerngreatbarrierreef. Master Reef Guides are striving to be the world’s leading reef guides and interpreters sharing the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. As reef ambassadors they impart up-to-date scientific and management information about the reef and explain what people can do to make a difference. BUNDABERG MILBI FESTIVAL A ten day immersive program of events celebrating local art, culture, environment and Milbi held in Bundaberg, spread across a number of experiences that acknowledge the unique identity, spirit and liveability of the Bundaberg Region. Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort is a part of the Milbi Festival through our "Master Reef Guide for a day" experience - an opportunity to visit the island and learn all about our reef protection efforts, surveying techniques and get the chance to meet our amazing locals! For the full festival guide or to book the Lady Elliot Island experience, click the link below! G'DAY AUSTRALIA 2023 In the last few weeks our Sales and Marketing Manager attended the event in Cairns. G’day Australia is an Australia-based trade event that combines a training workshop and familiarisation visits exclusively for qualified Aussie Specialist agents from across the globe. We were pleased to be able to showcase Lady Elliot Island and the Southern Great Barrier Reef to a range of international Retail Travel Agents during their stay in Queensland! Meet Georgia, our Activities Team Leader! Georgia has been part of the Lady Elliot Island team for the last year and is a marine biologist and coxswain from Sydney! What attracted you to working on Lady Elliot Island? Who wouldn’t want to work here? The marine life is out of this world, I see something I haven’t seen before almost every day. I also really value the opportunity to teach people about the incredible marine life! What is your favourite marine creature to see? Sharks! So powerful and graceful. I also love cleaner shrimp! They do such a precise job keeping the creatures of the reef clean. SOLAR POWER Our solar energy journey began in 2007. The first step was an energy audit which identified actions to reduce carbon emissions, noise and the Resorts reliance on the 24hr/7 day a week diesel generator. In 2008, our Hybrid Solar Power Station was completed which at the time was a state-of-the-art system and one of a kind in Australia. Over time, this hybrid system has been expanded to a fully commercial 3-phase system and additional solar panels, batteries and associated infrastructure has been installed. Today the Resort is a mini solar city. Project manager Robert sheds some light on the importance of solar on Lady Elliot Island. "We have been on our sustainability journey for a long time. We built the Hybrid Power Station back in 2008 as we were looking to reduce our fuel usage, lower our emissions and bring some relief from the noise of the diesel generators. Over the last 15 years we have installed 729 Solar panels for our power production and 162 for water heating in the rooms. We have installed over 250 batteries and saved millions of litres of diesel from being burned in the generators. This reduction in fuel usage has in turn saved millions of kilograms in carbon emissions." "When we started our journey, solar panels were over $2000 each - extremely costly and considered a crazy purchase to some! At the same time, we really wanted to do the right thing and today the same panel would cost less than $300 with batteries also coming down in price. This means that as the price of fuel goes up, we are saving more and more money making our power from the Sun. While it was a bit scary spending a lot of money to build the power station when we didn’t have any to spare, we were determined to do the right thing and now we are being rewarded! This means a lower cost for us, less fuel usage and also lower emissions - a huge win for the environment!" Image credit: Ben and Di Our latest blog explores the world of Bottlenose Dolphins and introduce readers to the cutest new member of the local Lady Elliot pod, Splash! In an upcoming blog, we celebrate 150 years of the historic lighthouse on the island with stories from past lighthouse keepers and Lady Elliot Island history buffs! Pictured: master bedroom in a two-bedroom Beachfront Unit Our 3-star comfortable 44 room eco-resort will offer you an opportunity to immerse yourself in nature and explore the pristine Southern Great Barrier Reef. To secure your stay at Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort we highly recommend you check out the online availability calendar on our website first. If your intended travel dates are available on the calendar and you are ready to make a booking, we recommend to contact our reservations team via phone on 1800 072 200 to confirm the dates are still available as availability can change rapidly at this time. Alternatively, once you have checked the availability calendar and you would like to arrange a booking or would like a quote, please email our friendly reservations team on [email protected] The Day Tour departing from the Gold Coast (Coolangatta) and Brisbane (Redcliffe) is on special with a saving of up to $236 per adult! Experience the pristine beauty of the World Heritage Listed Great Barrier Reef. Enjoy low level flying up the east coast of Australia taking in aerial views of the Gold Coast skyline, Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast, K'gari (formerly Fraser Island) and landing on the Great Barrier Reefs only coral cay with an airstrip! Spending 5 hours exploring the natural environment of Lady Elliot Island, you’ll snorkel with friendly turtles and an array of amazing marine life. Sit back and enjoy a hot and cold buffet lunch with a complimentary sparkling wine or beer whilst overlooking the Great Barrier Reef. Feel free to join in on one of the many educational activities available and learn how the fully self-sufficient resort operates on renewable energy technologies! |